Monthly Archives: November 2016

Back to the Basics: Man in Extreme Conditions

In the year 2000, Nigel Dennis, Stan Chladek, and Tom Bergh successfully circumnavigated Nelson Island in the South Shetland Islands. It was the first unsupported expedition of its kind.

Out on the open Pacific, enormous drifting icebergs freed from the Antarctic ice shelf flowed toward the Drake Passage, dwarfing our sea kayaks. Other worldly shapes and iridescent blues, coupled with the ice’s unusual lumbering movement, lent an eerie quality to the low ceiling clouds. The only sounds were nature at its most rugged. The weather was Antarctic: windy, foggy, damp, and cold. Out here there are no people, no boats, no options. It is just the three of us, making hopefully wise decisions on the sea. Continue reading→